The present invention relates in general to actuator and tube overcap assemblies adapted for installation onto a pressurized container and more particularly to actuator and tube overcap assemblies that can be installed onto the pressurized container with automated machinery.
A wide variety of actuators and tubes for selectively releasing material from a pressurized container and conducting that material to a selected destination are known. One specific application for these actuators or valves and tubes is tire inflator containers that contain various tire inflator and sealant products.
Modern pneumatic tires are designed for extended use on vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks, over many miles. Regardless of how well these tires are designed, they can still be punctured by sharp objects inadvertently left on the roadway and go flat. When the tire is punctured, the motorist must change the tire if he has a spare or have another tire put on the vehicle. In some instances, it is difficult to change the tire due to the location of the vehicle, such as when the puncture occurs on roadway which is not flat and the vehicle cannot be safely raised with a jack to change the tire. Other instances are dangerous to change the tire, such as for example, when the tire is punctured on a heavily traveled roadway and there is insufficient space to change the tire safely.
Various tire inflator and sealant products have been developed for both sealing the puncture in a tire and also inflating the tire so that it can be used to resume travel. These tire inflator and sealant products generally include a container having a inflator and sealant composition contained therein under pressure. This composition is releasable through an upstanding valve in the discharge end of the container. These compositions in the container typically include a liquefied gas in a sufficient quantity to reinflate the tire to a driveable condition and a sealant material for sealing the puncture when introduced into the tire.
An actuator is provided for attachment to the pressurized container to activate the upstanding valve of the container so that the inflator and sealant composition passes through the valve and then through the actuator to a discharge tube attached to the valve on the tire. In operation, the motorist attaches the discharge tube to the valve on the punctured tire and then properly positions the canister to maximize the flow of the inflator and sealant composition into the tire.
Since such tire inflator products contain the tire inflator and sealant material in the pressurized container under high-pressure, it is desirable to attach the discharge tube to the actuator when the actuator and tube product is manufactured. By providing a secure connection between the discharge tube and actuator, a connection is provided that prohibits leakage of material at that connection when material is discharged from the pressurized container.
One such design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,784, issued to one of the inventors of the present invention, and provides for the attachment of a flexible tube to a valve. Another such design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,466. Another design for attaching the tube to the valve includes positioning the tube over a barbed outlet of the valve and then fitting a non-flexible sleeve over the end of the tube attached to the barbed outlet.
The actuator and tube product is then provided to the manufacturer of the tire inflator product where the actuator and tube product is assembled with a pressurized canister having tire inflator and sealant material therein. General this assembly process is performed by hand since automation of the assembly process is difficult due to the nonsymmetrical shape of the actuator and tube assembly. The flexible tube extending from the actuator creates this nonsymmetrical configuration that makes it difficult to automatically assemble the actuator tube product to the pressurized container. Accordingly, these actuator tube products have necessarily been mounted on the pressurized container manually.
Additionally, the flexible tube requires additional manufacturing operations. Since the tube is not secured, it is free to move. To avoid this problem, the tube has been temporarily secured to the pressurized container by manually putting a rubber band around both the container and the tube. After this assembly process, the assembled tire inflator product must be hand packed for shipping since the temporarily attached tube prevents automated packaging. Then, when the assembled tire inflator product is displayed in a store on shelves, it can be difficult to arrange them neatly on the shelves and they can also take up more shelf space due to the tube secured to the side of the container. After the consumer purchases the tire inflator product, it is generally placed in the trunk where the tube can get tangled up with other objects in the trunk and damage the connection between the tube and the actuator or the actuator and the pressurized container.
It is desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly which can be assembled with a pressurized canister by automatic machinery. It is also desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly which contains the tube in a position that allows for automated packing, ease of display on store shelves, and avoids tangling the tube with other objects.
Known designs have provided overcap assemblies that can be assembled with a pressurized container by automatic machines, generally referred to as xe2x80x9ccapping machinesxe2x80x9d. Generally, overcap assemblies that can be readily assembled with automatic machinery have a symmetrical configuration and a top surface that can be used to urge the overcap assembly into engagement with the pressurized canister without actuating the actuator.
Wells, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,765,601, describes a valve and tube assembly in which a conduit is attached to the actuator body and a protective cap is preassembled onto the actuator body in overlying relationship to the conduit. The conduit described in Wells extends axially away from the pressurized container when mounted thereon and may be coiled or of other nonlinear configurations. The conduit provided by Wells is relatively short and is made from a resilient material, typically a polymer, such as polyvinyl chloride, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, or polypropylene. The protective cap described in Wells fits over the conduit, which is free to move inside the protective cap, and is attached to the actuator. The cap disclosed in Wells is attached to the actuator and not the canister with a limited amount of space which accordingly limits the length of the conduit.
Another known overcap assembly is described in Hsiao, U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,739 B1. The Hsiao design provides a base having a skirt that extends over the lower rim of the canister when they are mounted together. The base is bulky and large in size and in fact is the diameter of the entire cannister. A valve is provided in the top of the base with a flexible tube attached to the outlet of the valve. A cap is attached to the base with the tube positioned between the base and the cap and free to move in that space. In other embodiments, Hsiao discloses not providing an overcap and affixing the tube to the base with an adhesive, mechanical fasteners, such as flexible wires, or a shrink sleeve. Attaching the tube around the exterior of the valve without a base and cap is also disclosed. Such alternative embodiments without an overcap are difficult to use with automated machinery due to the unsymmetrical configuration thereof and the need for a top surface to press the assembly into engagement with a pressurized canister.
The known art does not disclose an actuator and tube overcap assembly in which the tube is removably secured to the inside of an overcap to allow automatic assembly thereof and subsequently allow automated machinery to assemble it with a pressurized container. It is desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly that provides for securing the tube to the overcap without the need for additional components, such as a adhesives, mechanical fasteners or shrink sleeves or the like. Such additional components do not lend themselves to automatic assembly of the actuator and tube and also increase the costs of such a product. It is desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly in which the actuator, tube and overcap can be assembled with automatic equipment.
It is also desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly which has a top surface that can be used to urge the overcap assembly into engagement with a pressurized canister without actuating the actuator. It is desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly that effectively transmits the force exerted on the top surface of the overcap to the actuator.
Various applications in which an actuator and tube overcap assembly is used require tubes of differing lengths. For example, some tire inflator products require the pressurized container to be inverted and other tire inflator products require the pressurized container to be in an upright position. Yet other tire inflator products use different actuators or valves to release the pressurized contents from the pressurized container. Another application for an actuator and tube overcap assembly is for use with an air conditioning recharge container. Depending on the design of the application, differing lengths of tubes are preferable. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an actuator and tube overcap assembly where the tube can be of differing lengths depending on the specific application.
After the actuator and tube overcap assembly is assembled with the pressurized canister, it is desirable to avoid discharge of the contents of the pressurized container until the tube is attached to the tire and the actuator is intentionally actuated. It should be recognized that a variety of circumstances exist in which the pressurized contents of the container are inadvertently or accidentally released. Accordingly it is desirable to provide a secondary valve in addition to the actuator to seal the pressurized contents in the container.
The known overcap art strives to keep the fluid passage of the tube open when it is assembled with the actuator and overcap. In fact, Hsiao even provides a stress relief spring to be affixed around the hose to avoid kinking. Due to the high pressures in the pressurized container, the tube must have sufficient strength to handle these pressures and allow the pressurized material to flow through the tube. The known art, as described in Wells, has provided a tube of resilient material, typically a polymer, such as polyvinyl chloride, high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene or polypropylene. These materials when bent, take a permanent set and resist the flow of pressurized material therethrough. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a tube that can be deformed to seal the passageway therethrough and when no longer deformed allows the pressurized material to flow therethrough.
The present invention provides the above described desirable features with an improved actuator and tube overcap assembly for automated installation onto a pressurized container. In addition, the actuator and tube overcap assembly of the present invention is capable of assembly with automated equipment.
The actuator or valve of the assembly of the present invention has an inlet end for attachment to the pressurized container. When the actuator is activated, material is released from the container and flows through the actuator and out the outlet end of the actuator. The flexible discharge tube has an inlet end fluidically connected to the outlet of the actuator and an extension portion extending from the inlet end of the tube. The extension portion terminates in an outlet end that has a connector attached thereto. The connector is provided for attachment to a fitting on the destination of the pressurized material, such as a tire or air conditioning system.
An overcap is removably affixed to the actuator with a latch which allows for attachment and detachment of the overcap from the actuator. When the overcap is to be affixed to the actuator, an axial force urges the overcap and actuator together so that the latch engages and holds the actuator and overcap together. The overcap has stabilizer portions extending from the overcap which contact the actuator to restrain movement of the overcap in the attached position. These stabilizer portions effectively transmits the force exerted on the top surface of the overcap to the actuator when the actuator and tube overcap assembly is assembled with the container. Such a design allows for automated assembly of the actuator and overcap without the need for other components. As will be hereinafter more fully described, in the assembled position the tube is removably attached to the overcap.
The latch allows for disengagement of the actuator and overcap so that the overcap may be unattached from the actuator. In the unattached position, the tube may be removed from the overcap, the connector attached to a fitting on the destination of the pressurized material and pressurized material transferred from the pressurized container.
To secure the tube to the overcap when the actuator, tube and overcap are assembled, the overcap has a top and a side extending at an angle from the top to a bottom edge. The top and side of the overcap both have inner surfaces contiguous with each other. The overcap has internal tube retaining portions, each of which have a tube retaining surface. The tube retaining surfaces extend away from the inner surface of the top and are spaced from the inner surface of the side. The tube is positioned between the tube retaining surface and the inner surface of the side of the overcap. The tube has an undeformed diameter and the tube retaining surfaces are spaced from the the side a distance less than the undeformed diameter of the tube extension portion to hold the tube therebetween.
Accordingly, when the tube is positioned between the internal tube retaining portions and the side of the overcap, it is removably affixed to the overcap. By so removably affixing the tube to the overcap, an actuator and tube overcap assembly is provided without the need for additional components, such as a base, adhesives, mechanical fasteners or shrink sleeves or the like. Such a design allows for automatic assembly of the actuator and tube overcap assembly.
Another feature of the present invention that provides for the automatic assembly of the actuator and tube overcap assembly is restraining the movement of the connector on the tube outlet end with either the overcap or actuator and without additional components. The connector has a circumference greater than the circumference of the tube. When the tube is positioned between the tube retainers and the side with the connector above the actuator, the connector is held in position by contact with the top of the actuator and the side of the overcap. When it is desirable to position the connector in other positions, a tube holding protrusion is provided on the inner surface of the overcap side which holds the connector in position. Such designs in the present invention provides for constraining movement of the connector on the tube to with the overcap and/or the actuator without additional components.
Another feature of the present invention that provides for the automatic assembly of the actuator and tube overcap assembly of the present invention is that the overcap side and the tube retaining surface diverge as they extend away from the inner surface of the top to the bottom of the tube retaining surface. The tube is automatically assembled between the space between the tube retaining surface and the overcap side by positioning the tube adjacent the bottom of the tube retaining surface. The tube extension is then urged towards the top of the overcap in the space therebetween. As the tube extension moves towards the top of the overcap, the converging tube retaining surface and overcap side grip the tube so that it is removably retained therein. Since the space is greater between the bottom of the tube retaining surface and the side, automatic assembly of the tube and the overcap is more readily provided.
The actuator and tube overcap assembly of the present invention allows for the use of tubes of differing lengths so that it can be used in a variety of different applications. By changing the height of the overcap or the outside periphery of the overcap or in other instances simply using additional tube lengths, tubes of widely varying lengths can be removably attached to the overcap.
The actuator and tube overcap assembly of the present invention provides a secondary valve, in addition to the actuator, to seal the pressurized contents in the container. This secondary valve is provided by the tube which can be deformed to seal the passageway therethrough and when no longer deformed allows the pressurized material to flow therethrough. To achieve this secondary valve feature, the side of the overcap is positioned adjacent the outlet of the actuator a distance that closes the fluid passageway of the tube positioned between the overcap side and the outlet of the actuator. It has been found that plastic material having particular material characteristics achieves the above described features of providing a secondary valve and is also capable of handling the pressures exerted thereon when the material is discharged from the container. A tube having these particular material characteristics is sufficiently flexible to seal when deformed by the overcap forcing the tube against the actuator outlet. In addition, when such a tube is disassembled from the overcap it allows pressurized material to flow therethrough and has sufficient strength to handle the pressure of the pressurized material.